Accidents Happen Every Day
by PeggsterLover
Summary: A horrific accident leaves Nicholas and Danny stranded in the Pennines, injured and alone. As Nicholas takes care of Danny's wounds, he doesn't let on about his own; what could be a fatal decision.


_Another random one shot that I felt like writing… hope you like it!_

_Enjoy!_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Nicholas!"

Who was yelling his name? Everything other than that shout seemed like it was underwater. His head felt like it was on fire and it seemed as though his ear drums would burst at any moment. It felt like someone was inside his head, bashing something hard against the inside of his skull repeatedly; the throbbing made him want to return to complete unconsciousness. The only thing stopping him was the familiarity and distress in the voice which called him.

"Nicholas! Wake up!"

There it was again. He knew that voice from somewhere, yet he was still lingering on the outer boundaries of insentience that it was difficult to place it. As full awareness returned, the aching sensation slowly took over his body, limb by limb. Letting out a groan of pain, he heard a distant sigh; it sounded somewhat relieved. Struggling with his glued eyelids, it took him a few moments to force them open, yet once he did everything came rushing back to him.

They had received the warning of turbulence from the pilot and strapped themselves down into their seats. When the movements of the small plane had become too much, the pilot had uttered some more words into the speaker, yet by that point the noises from the rapidly descending aircraft merely drowned him out. He remembered trying to keep Danny calm as they fell through the night sky somewhere over central England and then after that, an intense pain in his head brought darkness. Judging from the dim light around them, he presumed it would be around sunrise; light slowly crept through the small windows of the wrecked plane. Taking in a deep breath, he decided he should probably respond to Danny, who was still trying to elicit some sort of response.

"Danny…" His voice sounded far weaker than he wanted to, not wishing to alarm the younger officer.

"Oh thank god, Nicholas. You had me worried sick, you did." Nicholas was relieved that Danny sounded a little brighter than himself. Before turning to check on his friend, he decided to take in his surroundings first; he needed to make sure he wasn't trapped so that he would be able to help his friend. Glancing down, he lifted a hand to his seatbelt, feeling glad when it opened without any problems. He could feel the blood oozing down his face from a cut which, when he lifted a hand to it, he found to run from the corner of his eye to his ear. When something caught his gaze, he turned his sights onto the seat next to him, noticing a large piece of what looked like the plane's structure. He would have paid it no mind had it not been for the excessive amount of blood that covered one end; it was the end nearest to him. Feeling sick at the sight, he moved so that he could push his jacket out of the way. When he did, all it did was intensify his unsettled stomach by revealing a rather large and growing blood stain on the side of his pale blue shirt. He knew it would need to be tended to, but he needed to check on Danny. Pulling the jacket further around so that it covered the blood, he moved to stand up, finding even the slightest of movements to shoot agony through his body.

Using the back of the chair for support, he turned around to Danny. The younger man sat on the other side of the plane and one row back from his own seat and was looking up at him with concern decorating his face. There was a horrific gash that sat on the bridge of his nose, running halfway across his cheek. It dripped blood down one side of his face, causing the usually happy features to seem so pained. He wished that he could just wipe away the pain; after the NWA incident, he had never wanted Danny to ever feel pain again. Once he had caught his breath and got used to the change in position, he began to move, taking slow steps towards his friend.

"Are you ok, Danny?" he asked, the discomfort he felt was evident in his voice, yet he masked it with a serious expression.

"Uh, I think my arm might be broken." The sergeant replied. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, let's have a look." Nicholas finally reached Danny and dropped to his knees, tenderly touching the other officer's arm. When Danny's suspicions were confirmed he nodded.

"We'll have to get some support on this as soon as possible. Any other injuries you can feel?"

"Well, my leg hurts." Danny offered. "A lot." He added and Nicholas moved to look. When the light finally shone in the right spot, the inspector saw the significantly large piece of glass sticking out from his upper thigh.

"Right. Ok." Nicholas found himself nodded for an unknown reason, but he knew he had to do something fast. He wondered if the pilots were ok. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Danny, I'm just going to the cockpit. I'll try to call for help, ok?"

"M'kay. Nicholas, be careful."

"I will." Slowly, he raised himself back to his feet, trying to push aside the pain as he did. Taking one step at a time, he made his way up the aircraft – at least what was left of it – and pushed open the door to the cockpit. When he entered, he saw both pilot and co-pilot were unmoving. It took him a few seconds to find what he was looking for, but he soon caught a glimpse of it. Pushing the pilot's lifeless body off the control panel, he grabbed the radio and pressed the button, begging for it to still be working. "Hello? Hello, is anybody there?"

Silence.

Biting his lip, he tried again. "Can anybody hear me? Hello?"

Still more silence.

Taking in a deep breath, he gripped the radio tighter. "Please, is somebody there? Can anybody hear me?"

Finally, the radio sprung to life, crackling as a voice appeared on the other end.

"I've got you loud and clear." It was a man.

"Great, look our plane has crashed and we need some help ASAP."

"Ok, we'll send some right away, do you have your coordinates?"

"Uh… hang on." Nicholas searched for the right information on the multiple screens and dials of the aircraft. "We're at... two-point-five degrees west, fifty-four-point-two degrees north."

_We're in the Pennines? _Nicholas thought. Shaking himself, he waited for a response.

"Ok, we're gonna get someone on their way right now. How many were on your plane?"

"Just four." Nicholas responded.

"And how many survivors?"

"Two." Nicholas gulped as he spoke. "Myself and my friend. The pilots are dead."

"Are you injured?"

"Minor injuries. Nothing we can't handle."

"Ok, just hang tough, we're gonna get you out of there." The line went dead and Nicholas felt the silence steal every sound. Pain crept through his body as he leant on the control panel, struggling to remain upright, but he ignored it; he had to get back and tend to Danny. Using anything he could for aid, he walked back into the fuselage of the small plane. While it was a disadvantage only having each other to help with injuries, Nicholas was glad it had only been a small aircraft. If there had been more people on it, it would have meant more injuries; not to mention more panic. They didn't need that.

"Danny?" he noticed that the sergeant's eyes were closed, worrying for a moment before sighing with respite as they opened. "You ok?"

"Yeah. How did it go?"

"They're sending help now." Nicholas explained. "We're gonna be fine. Now let's get you sorted." When Danny nodded, Nicholas tried to undo the seatbelt strapping Danny in. Unfortunately, when he pulled at it, it wouldn't budge. He tried again but still to no avail. "Alright, Danny, the seatbelt's jammed, but I'll sort out your arm and leg first then I'll get you out." Nicholas didn't wait for a response from his friend and moved to the back of the seat he had been in. Using as much force as he could, he pulled at the back of it until a large chunk of plastic detached. Once that was free, he grabbed the life-jackets from under all of the seats, placing them on the floor next to him. Picking up each one in turn, he tugged at the straps of each of them until he had what he needed. "Alright, this might hurt a bit, but it'll help, ok?" Placing the plastic underneath Danny's injured arm, he began to wrap the straps around his arm, securing it to the makeshift splint as best he could. He briefly saw the tears of pain escape Danny's eyes and had to look back down, not wanting to see the expression on his friend's face. Once it was done, he sighed; it wasn't perfect and probably wouldn't help much, but it was better than nothing.

Next, he needed to deal with the glass in Danny's leg. Moving to the back of the plane, he saw his carry-on bag and grabbed it, unzipping it to find his spare t-shirt inside. He tugged at the material, tearing it into a few smaller pieces. He then glanced at the glass.

"Ok, Danny, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but this will hurt. But I promise you, it is gonna make it easier. Do you trust me?"

"Course I do, Nicholas." He met Danny's gaze and smiled softly.

"Alright, I'll be as quick as I can." Preparing the material in one hand, he wrapped the other around the glass; every single movement caused agony to rip through his body. With a quick yet careful tug, he removed it from Danny's leg and pressed down on it with the shirt. He felt it instantly become wet with blood under his hands and worked swiftly to wrap the other pieces of material around it. Clenching his teeth together, he tied the ends together and tugged, trying to ignore the cry of pain that escaped Danny's lips. Once the material was secured, he waited a few moments and closed his eyes, listening to Danny controlling his breathing as the inspector tried to will away the pain. It took him a minute, but when he finally opened his eyes again, he saw Danny looking at him with concern again.

"Thanks, Nicholas." He spoke softly and offered a crooked smile.

"No need to thank me, Danny." He began to stand up. "Now we just have to get you out of this cha-aahh!" Suddenly, pain took over his entire body and he doubled over, gripping the back of Danny's chair tightly.

"Nicholas!" Danny panicked, wondering what was wrong with his friend. He watched, terrified, as the older officer squeezed his eyes shut and locked his jaw in place. "Nicholas, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine." Nicholas tried to brush Danny's hands away as he fought to get his breath back; the unexpected agony had stolen it from him without warning. "Honestly, I'm fine." When he finally managed to recompose himself as best he could, he looked up at his friend. "Really. Now I'm gonna find something to get you free with." Moving slowly once more, he began to look for anything sharp enough to cut through the seatbelt. He figured that there had to be something he could use, yet his search proved pointless. They must have lost a lot of items in the crash.

_Shit. _Nicholas thought to himself, making his way back to his friend. Staring at the bloodied chunk of glass on the floor, he made a quick decision; even if it sliced his hand to pieces, if it meant getting Danny out of the seat, he would do it. Grasping it, he used his shirt to wipe of as much of his friend's blood as he could before grabbing the seatbelt with the other hand.

"Nicholas, what are you-"

"I need to get you out of this, so hold still." Nicholas interrupted.

"But you're gonna cut your hand up." Danny protested, trying to remove the glass from Nicholas' hand, but the inspector stopped him.

"Please, Danny. Just let me help you." He begged, looking his friend directly in the eyes. After a few seconds of obvious inner struggle, Danny nodded. Taking a deep breath, Nicholas began to cut, feeling the stinging sensation as the glass sliced through his palm and his fingers. He had to suppress the groan of discomfort that threatened to escape as he worked, feeling relief as the glass slid through the seatbelt as well as his skin. He could feel his eyes beginning to well up as the pain was starting to become hard to bear, but he knew he had to keep going. He was almost there.

When he finally felt the glass slip through the last fibres of the seatbelt, he felt it go slack and he helped Danny to his feet.

"Thanks Nicholas." Danny smiled at him and the inspector nodded in response.

"Ok, let's get outside and wait for help." Nicholas let Danny go first and the pair made it to the opening and into the fresh morning air. Danny stepped ahead of Nicholas, taking in their surroundings.

"Where are we, Nicholas?" he asked, looking at the vast space around them. Wherever it was, he knew they were somewhere over central England – they had been heading for the Lake District for a conference when the crash happened. "Nicholas?" His friend had gone quiet but before he could turn to face him, he heard what sounded like something heavy hitting the ground. Spinning on his heels, Danny found himself staring at the inspector lying on the cold grass, eyes half lidded as he clutched at his side. "Nicholas!" Danny ran and dropped to his knees at the other man's side, moving his hands and feeling sick when they came away bloodied. Looking down at Nicholas' jacket, he noticed that the material was quite wet and he reached out a shaking hand to move it aside.

"Oh god, Nicholas…" He saw the large crimson stain on the blue material of Nicholas' shirt and he immediately felt the lump rise in his throat. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I had to… help you…" Nicholas said between breaths.

"B-but this whole time…" Danny's voice was crackling slightly. "You've known?"

"Yeah… I was gonna… get to it… after I helped you…" Nicholas could barely see through his rapidly blurring vision, yet he noticed Danny moving quite quickly. "What are you… doing… Danny?"

"Gotta get something on this." The sergeant removed his jacket and scrunched it up, pressing it down on the wound. Unfortunately, his nerves caused him to be more heavy-handed than he planned and he jumped when Nicholas let out a cry of pain which echoed around them. "Sorry! Sorry, Nicholas, are you ok?"

"Mmmm…" Nicholas clenched his teeth together and nodded. As the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in, the inspector could feel himself losing touch with reality. He felt Danny grasping his hand, however at the same time, it didn't feel like it was his own hand.

"Nicholas, stay with me ok? Everything's gonna be fine." Nicholas smiled weakly when Danny spoke those words.

"Sounds familiar…"

"Yeah…" Danny's voice was strained as he held onto his hand tightly. "Please don't go anywhere, Nicholas. Help's on the way." Nicholas wanted to obey, but the alluring pull of unconsciousness was becoming too much and he could feel his eyes closing. "Nicholas, open your eyes. Don't go to sleep yet."

He tried. He really tried to stay awake, but he couldn't hold on. The last thing he remembered was Danny screaming his name as he sank into oblivion.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Nicholas?"

This time, when he woke up, the voice wasn't shouting his name. Whoever it was spoke softly and kindly; the tone of the voice alone threatened to push him back to sleep. But he figured that whoever was calling him had good reason to.

"Nicholas, thank god." His vision was blurry when he opened his eyes; however he could make out that the voice was coming from the fuzzy figure sitting nearby.

"Danny?" Granted, Nicholas' voice wasn't very convincing to show that he was ok, but he hoped that the fact he was awake would reassure his friend. When his vision cleared, he spotted the cast on Danny's right arm and the cut on his cheek had been tended to and covered. He was glad. Assessing his own treatment, the itchy touch of a bandage sat over the side of his face, part of it covering the corner of his eye. He lifted his right hand to see that the gash from the glass was sorted and as he shifted slightly, he felt the same material rubbing against his abdomen.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you." Danny sounded solemn as he spoke, almost as if he felt bad for what had happened. "Why did you do that, Nick?"

"What?"

"Your injury was far worse than mine. You should have told me so that we could have gotten you sorted first."

"But I told you, I wanted to help you first." Nicholas retorted, weakly.

"Ok, but what would have happened if you got worse? What if you'd passed out before you finished helping me? Then what?"

"But I didn't, Danny."

"Yeah, but what if you had?" Danny's voice hitched. "Please promise that you'll tell me stuff like that."

Nicholas saw the sincerity in Danny's eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry, Danny."

"Don't apologise." Danny held up his uninjured arm as if to prove a point. "Just be more careful, ok?"

"Ok." Nicholas replied softly and then gave a weak smile when Danny seemed happy with this response. The inspector let out a sigh; they had no doubt missed the conference by now. Before moving to Sandford, Nicholas would have probably felt some annoyance at this fact, however right now he was just relieved that both of them had made it out in one piece. There would be other conferences to go to but you only have one life. That was far more important.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_So how was it? Ok, I hope. _

_Much love x_


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